


doing all right

by black_queen (hotch_fan)



Series: Billionaire Philanthropist Buddies [5]
Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: ... but not really, Banter, Bickering, Bromance, Bruce is grateful even if he will never admit it, Canon - Movie, Crossover, Crossover Friendship, Crossover Pairings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Male Friendship, Post-Break Up, Protective Tony Stark, Swearing, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, because it's Tony and Bruce we're talking about, but Tony still tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 01:38:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7915432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotch_fan/pseuds/black_queen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you hurt Bruce Wayne, you'll have Tony Stark to deal with. And if you didn't, well. You <i>may</i> have to deal with him anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	doing all right

Standing before the large double doors, Tony bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited, designer sunglasses perched on his nose and a box tucked under his arm.

"Mr. Stark," Alfred greeted politely as he opened the door, letting him in.

"Hey, Alfie. Is Bruce in?"

Tony very deliberately didn't squirm under the weight of the butler's gaze. He felt like a little boy standing before his friend's stern father asking if his friend could come out to play. Not that he had any experience in that regard, actually, but he thought this was how it must feel like.

"Master Bruce is in his study, sir."

The billionaire resisted the urge to keep his sunglasses on as some kind of protection and took them off, shoving them into his pocket. "Is he alone?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Great!" Tony looked back at him. "I already know my way around here and everything, so why don't you let me go find him by myself, huh? That way you can go occupy yourself with something more important."

Alfred simply lifted an eyebrow, eyes unreadable.

"Yeaaah. That's a terrible idea. Let's just forget I said anything."

The butler nodded. "If you follow me, please."

"Right. Lead the way." Tony adjusted his grip on the box before following him.

There were no more words exchanged as they walked through the long hallways of the Manor, coming to a stop before a familiar large door.

"Mr. Stark is here to see you, sir," Alfred informed properly after opening the door at Bruce's assenting.

Bruce nodded. "Thank you, Alfred."

Tony threw a grin in the butler's direction as he walked in. Bruce had just risen from his chair behind the desk and was walking toward the door, a relaxed expression on his face.

"Tony," He acknowledged.

"Hi, Brucie."

"Do you require anything else, sirs?"

"We're fine, Alfred. Thank you."

Alfred bowed properly, leaving them to their own devices and closing the door behind him.

The older billionaire turned to his counterpart. "He still hates me, huh?"

"He doesn't hate you," Bruce clarified. "He just doesn't approve of you and your lifestyle much."

Tony snorted at the understatement, moving close enough to hand out the box to him. "This is for you, birthday boy. And this too," He added, pulling him toward him and wrapping both arms around the taller man.

"Pepper sent both," Tony clarified as soon as he pulled back. "My gift is too big to fit in a little box, so you'll see it later."

Bruce looked down at the carefully wrapped present, with its huge silver ribbon atop before looking back at Tony. "I will be sure to thank her."

"You do that," Tony commented distractedly, not wasting any more time before stalking toward the drinks cart. He eyed the bottles carefully before picking one along with a couple of glasses.

Bruce had walked toward the large sofa set by the fireplace, so Tony headed there, placing both glasses on the center table and sinking down onto the couch at his side. He opened the bottle and poured the amber liquid into both glasses without a word, nudging one in Bruce's direction.

"I almost didn't come, you know," He commented after drinking. "I was sure the Boy Scout was going to be here."

Bruce hummed over the rim of the glass before taking a sip.

"Where's he anyway? Flew off somewhere to pull a kitty from a tree or something?"

"He's in Smallville."

That gave Tony pause. He really hoped the alien wasn't about to show up with his adoptive mother and father in town. He'd hate to be left in the middle of the weird family reunion. "Mmm. Why?"

"Because his parents live there?" Bruce replied dryly but was very careful not to meet the other man's eyes. Tony didn't miss that little detail.

"Shocking! I thought his whole planet blow up." Bruce shot him a look and Tony just rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. I thought he was going to be here. It is your _birthday_ , after all."

"He has no reason to,"

Tony narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Bruce met his eyes. "It means we are not together anymore."

"What?"

"... I don't think I can make it clearer than that."

"When?" Tony demanded, letting that last comment go. His brow was furrowed in thought as he tried to remember if he had noticed anything different lately.

"A month ago or so," Bruce admitted with a shrug. "It wasn't working."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"There was nothing to tell. We agreed to give dating a chance and it didn't work. End of the story. There's nothing extraordinary about it."

Tony ignored the words. He rose to his feet and started passing in front of the sofa. "I can't believe that guy! I can't _fucking_ believe it! He spent almost a year drooling over you and begging you to go out with him and he does this shit when you agree, the asshole."

"Tony-"

"Do I need to ask Lexy for some Kryptonite?" Tony asked, eyes gleaming dangerously.

Bruce snorted. "You hate Luthor."

"Good point. Do I need to _steal_ some of Baldy's Kryptonite?"

"You don't and you wouldn't."

The older man crossed his arms over his chest. "Why the hell not? I don't see a good reason no to kick his Kryptonian ass."

"Don't be melodramatic. He didn't dump me or cheat on me or any of the awful things you're imagining. We talked it over and decided to break things. _Together."_

"Is that Lane woman, isn't it? I knew it! She's obviously in love with Spandex guy and he's never done anything to discourage her obvious flirting. And even out of costume he's around her all the damn time, the idiot." Tony continued pacing back and forth, and only stopped when he noticed there was no reply from the other man.

"I'm right, aren't I? That's why you're not saying anything."

"I'm not saying anything because you're clearly _not listening to me._ You're just going along with whatever drama you made up in your head and ignoring anything I say."

Tony looked down at him; piercing brown eyes meeting defiant hazel ones. Bruce seemed to be telling the truth, but that meant shit coming from one of the best liars he had ever met.

He stood there, hesitating between wanting to continue his tirade and realizing that, whether he was lying or not, the last thing Bruce needed right now was a useless rant on top of everything else. No matter what the stubborn Bat said, he must be affected by this somehow. He sat back down, filling his glass and drowning the content. Under Bruce's wary gaze, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You're the bestest ever. You know that, right? I have no idea what the hell that stupid alien was thinking, dumping awesome you."

"Thanks," Bruce replied dryly.

"I mean, you're the Goddamn Batman. It doesn't get more awesome than that."

Bruce shook his head, but his eyes were alight with amusement. That small detail was enough for Tony, so he went on.

"And really, you totally deserve better than some weird alien. I mean, sure, he looks human enough, but he's still an alien." Tony made a pause. "Did you see him naked?"

"What?"

"Come on, Brucie-bear! Don't be prudish. You're both adults, so I'm sure you saw the alien naked at some point, right? So, question time. Is Supey Jr. human-looking?" Tony asked. "No, wait. Is there even a Supey Jr.?"

"There is," Bruce replied without meeting Tony's eyes.

"Well, that's good, I guess." At Bruce arched eyebrow, Tony added, "What? As I've pointed out several times already, he's an _alien._ For all I know, the guy could have tentacles or something gross like that."

"Now that you mention it," Bruce started, head tilted to the side. "He did have some strange habits in bed."

The scientific part of Tony's brain peaked at that, curious to learn more about the Kryptonian and his habits, but the rest of his brain was horrified by the mere possibility of hearing details about Bruce's sex life. For fuck's sake! The man was kind of like a brother to him.

Oh, fuck. What had he done?

Tony cleared his throat. "See? It's totally a good thing you got rid of that creep."

Bruce said nothing in reply, but the twitch Tony caught at the corner of his mouth before it was covered by the glass was enough to let him know he had been played like an idiot. Of-fucking-course.

"You're an ass, Wayne."

"I thought I was the _bestest ever?"_ Bruce asked with a dark eyebrow arched.

Tony snorted. "Fuck you too, Wayne."

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so. I almost didn't add this fic to the series because while the stories aren't all directly related, the Bruce/Clark thing wasn't something I wanted to connect to the rest of the fics, but well. This is a Tony-Bruce friendship collection, and this is the closest they've come to show they care, so of course I couldn't leave it out. I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Also, I hope I did a good job showing it within the fic itself, but Bruce is telling the truth, and things between him and Clark will adjust just fine with time. And of course, Tony's heated tirade is entirely due to his protectiveness toward Bruce.
> 
> This is unbetaed and I'm not a native speaker, so please feel free to point out any mistake you find.
> 
> The title was taken from the song of the same name by Queen.


End file.
